What are the main sources of fresh water in the UK?

Freshwater

More than 69% of the surface of planet Earth is covered in water. But only about 4%is fresh water. Fresh water is stored in five areas:· Atmosphere 0.024%· Biosphere 0.0025% · Surface store (lakes and rivers) 0.22% · Groundwater 26% · Glaciers and polar ice 73.8%

Water storage in the UK

Geology is the main factor in determining where water is stored within the drainage basin. this fact is critical to the water companies who supply us with water to our homes and businesses. In regions where the geology is impermeable, water can be stored at the surface. in regions where the geology is porous, such a sandstone, water is stored naturally in the rocks underground. There natural stores of groundwater are called aquifers.Surface stores include lakes and rivers. Rivers can be dammed to control flooding and create reservoirs for water supply. There are more than 47,000 large dams in the world and nearly half of these are in China. However, surface stores can also be very small. Take rainwater harvesting, for example. If you have a water-butt in your garden that collects rainwater from the gutters, you are creating a small surface store of fresh water.Groundwater stores occur when water infiltrates into the ground and gets trapped in the fractures and the pore spaces of rocks and sediments. Water that enters an aquifer is called recharge; water that leaves an aquifer is discharge. When water is taken from either a surface or groundwater store by human action we say the water is abstracted. If water is taken from a store faster than it can be recharged we say that over-extraction is talking place.Through flow is when water moves through the layers in the soil and rock when moving from one store to another.Below is a map showing the major aquifers in the UK and the % of water supply that comes from groundwater supply.